Bank subsidiaries for pension fund
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will allow commercial banks to undertake Pension Funds Management (PFM) through their subsidiaries set up for the purpose. Such subsidiaries, however, will be subject to satisfying the eligibility criteria prescribed by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), said RBI in a notification issued on Thursday.

Accordingly, banks intending to undertake PFM as per guidelines set out in the Annex should obtain prior approval of RBI before engaging in such business.

Simply put, banks will have to submit necessary applications to us furnishing full details in respect of the various eligibility criteria as specified in the Annex along with the details of the equity contribution proposed to be made in the subsidiary.

In order to provide adequate safeguards RBI has stipulated the eligibility criteria as well as the solvency margin prescribed by PFRDA.  This envisages that networth of the bank should be not less than Rs 500 crore and CRAR should be not less than 11 per cent during the last three years.

That apart, banks should have made net profit for the last three consecutive years, while Return on Assets (ROA) should be atleast 0.6 per cent  or more and level of net non-performing assets (NPAs) should be less than 3 per cent.

Mr Chemmanur  bags GIBS award
George Chemmanur, the Chairman of Chemmanur group of companies, Bangalore has been selected by GIBS (Global India Business Summit) for its “ Life Time Achievement 2007.” The award will be presented to him by the Industry Minister of the State, North Rhein West Falia on July 7, 2007 at Cologne in Germany during Global India Business Summit.

    Mr Chemmanur was also the recipient of several prestigious awards in the past such as the Karnataka State award for ‘Excellence in Export’ in the year 1992-93 and award for outstanding performance in ‘Best Manufacturer Export’ by the government of India in the year 1993-94.

Magnum to buy LSI’s business
LSI Corporation and Magnum Semiconductor Inc announced on Thursday that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Magnum will acquire the LSI consumer products business in a transaction to be funded by private equity investment.

     The combination of each company's consumer products portfolio is expected to allow Magnum to strengthen its position as a leading provider of chips, software and platforms for consumer entertainment systems and products.

Avocent’s new s/w platform  
Avocent Corporation on Thursday announced in Bangalore initial integration of its DSView 3 management software platform, used to access and control data center devices, with LANDesk Server Manager, an enterprise software solution used to manage and protect data center and non data center servers.

      The combination of the two solutions enables comprehensive in-band as well as out-of-band management of servers and related IT infrastructure and ensures optimal server and data centre performance and availability. LANDesk Server Manager supports rack-mounted and blade servers with low-impact services that let users choose the level of management coverage.

Jyothi Labs Ltd files for IPO
Jyothy Labaratories Limited has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi to enter the capital market with an initial public offering of equity shares.

   The company proposes to offer 44.30 lakh equity shares of Rs 5 each by way of an offer for sale by the selling shareholders. The selling shareholders includes Canzone, South Asia Regional Fund, CDC Investment Holdings, ICICI Bank Canada and ICICI Bank UK PLC.